Afghanistan
never nominated
(submitting since 1996)

A LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT

Roya Sadat

minutes
Dari

TEXT

Not Selected:Director’s Fortnight winnerWolf and Sheep, a drama about children in a shepherding village

Trivia: Afghanistan was disqualified in both of the past two seasons

Albania
never nominated
(subitting since 1996)

DAY BREAK

Gentian Koci

minutes
Albanian

TEXT

Not Selected:

Distant Angels, a new drama about the war in neighboring Kosovo, and the first film byGjergj Xhuvani (Slogans) in eight years

Algeria
5 noms | 1 win (subitting since 1969)

ROAD TO INSTANBUL

Rachid Bouchareb

minutes
French

TEXT

Not Selected:

Let Them Come, about a man and his secular family trying to survive amidst a tide of Islamic fundamentalism, andI Still Hide to Smoke(主演Hiam阿巴斯),一个电影in a women’s sauna.

Argentina
7 noms | 2 wins (submitting since 1961)

ZAMA
Lucretia Martel

minutes
Spanish

a 17th centuryhistorical drama based on a beloved novel. Despite years of critical acclaim this is the first time Argentina has submitted a Martel film

Not Selected: Initially people thought they'd send Santiago Mitre’sLa cordillerastarring well known actors Ricardo Darin and Paulina Garcia.

Armenia
never nominated
(submitting since 2001)

YEVA

Anahit Abad

minutes
Armenian

TEXT

Not selected: Mysteriously disqualifiedlast year, Armenia had other options this year includingGood Morning, an idealistic journalist drama, the documentaryThe Last Wishor the comedic thrillerBravo Virtuoso

Australia
1 nomination (submitting since 1996)

THE SPACE BETWEEN
Ruth Borgobello

minutes
Italian & English

TEXT

Austria
4 noms | 2 wins (submitting since 1961)

HAPPY END
Michael Haneke

107 minutes
French

TEXT

REVIEWED

Not selected:
the serial killer filmDie Holle(from the Oscar winner behindThe Counterfeiters),orBest of All Worldsabout a heroin addict mother.

Azerbaijan
never nominated (submitting since 2007)

POMEGRANATE ORCHARD
Ilgar Najaf
Facebook

90 minutes
Azerbaijani

Based on Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard”

Bangladesh
never nominated (submitting since 2002)

THE CAGE
Akram汗

minutes
Bengali

TEXT

Not SelectedThe country's censors banned the expected frontrunnerNo Bed of Rosesstarring popular international actor Irffan Khan so the race was wide open.

Belgium
7 noms | 0 wins (submitting since 1967)

RACER AND THE JAILBIRD
Michaël R Roskam

130 minutes
French

REVIEWED

A reunion for the director and star of the Oscar nom'edBullhead.Matthias Schoenaerts is a gangster who falls for a driver (Adele Excharpoulos) in this crime drama

Not Selected:
The Arabic-languageInsyriatedstarring Hiam Abbass, The Dardenne Brothers'AnUnknown Woman, andFien Troch’s teen dramaHome

Bolivia
never nominated
(submitting since 1995)

DARK SKULL
Kiro Russo

minutes
Spanish

a dark thriller set in the country’s tin mines. It won Best Picture at the Cartagena Film Festival.

Bosnia & Herzegovina
1 nom | 1 win
(submitting since 1994)

MEN DON'T CRY
Alen Drljevic

98 minutes
Bosnian

Drama about a talk therapy group bringing together veterans from all three ethnic armies that fought during the Bosnian Civil War of the 1990s.

Brazil
4 noms | 0 wins (submitting since 1960)

BINGO: KING OF THE MOUNTAINS
Daniel Rezende

minutes
Portuguese

Can Brazil cover from theirAquariusdebacle last year (such a great film that they refused so send!)

Not Selected:The Great Mystical Circusa historical drama. Director Carlos Diegues has been selected to represent Brazil six times, and at 77 (and in semi-retirement), this is likely to be one of his last films.

Bulgaria
never nominated (submitting since 1971)

GLORY
Kristina Grozeva & Peta Valchanov

minutes
Bulgarian

A film about a media frenzy over a suddenly rich man

Not Selected:Godlessabout a drug addict nurse or the black and white titleMemories of Fearwhich swept their local Academy Awards in June.

Cambodia
1 nomination (submitting since 1994)

FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER
Angelina Jolie

minutes
Khmer & English

Not Selected: Up until Angelina Jolie showed up, the frontrunner was expected to beDiamond Island, a drama about a country boy who falls in love in the big city

Canada
7 noms | 1 win
(submitting since 1971)

HOCHELAGA, LAND OF SOULS
François Girard

minutes
French, English, Mohawk, and Algonquin

TEXT

Not Selected: The Mandarin language thrillerOld Stonewas a Best Pic nominee at the Genie Awards, Zacharius Kunuk also had a new film, the Arctic westernSearchers

Chile
1 noms | 0 wins
(submitting since 1990)

A FANTASTIC WOMAN
Sebastian Lelio

minutes
Spanish

The film has already been a prize winner elsewhere but Lelio wasnt Oscar nominated forGloria, but should have been!

China
2 nominations
(submitting since 1979)

WOLF WARRIOR 2

Wu Jing

minutes
Mandarin & English

Not Selected: Feng Xiaogang'sI Am Not Madame Bovary,Wasted Times(w/Zhang Ziyi) and B&W arthouseSummer is Gone

Colombia
1 nomination
(submitting since 1980)

GUILTY MEN
Ivan Gaona

115 minutes
Spanish

Not Selected:
Victor Gaviria’s brutalThe Animal’s Wifeis about a novice nun who ends up as the captive of a villa thug.Between Sea and Land” (Audience Award, Sundance) andThe Dragon’s Defense

Costa Rica
never nominated
(submitting since 2005)

THE SOUND OF THINGS
Ariel Escalante

minutes
Spanish

The movie that won their national film festival. It's about a nurse traumatized by her cousin's suicide.

Not Selected:Abrazame como anteswhich is about trans prostitutes.

Croatia
2 nominations *
(submitting since 1992 as Croatia)

QUIT STARING AT MY PLATE
Hana Jušić
Official Site

105分钟
Croatian

The promiscuous teenage daughter of a poor family tries to keep things together after the father is disables and unable to provide.

Not setected: Other winners of their Pula Film Festival wereThe Constitution(about societal prejudices) andA Brief Excursion(a slacker drama).

Czech Republic
9 noms* | 2 wins* (submitting since 1994 as Czech Republic)

ICE MOTHER
Bodham Slama

minutes
Czech

TEXT

Not Selected:Little Crusadersa medieval dramaBarefoot, by Jan Sverak (ofKolyafame) which is a comedic drama about a little boy send to the countryside to escape the fighting of WWII.

Denmark
13 nominations | 3 wins (submitting since 1956)

YOU DISAPPEAR
Peter Schonau Fog

minutes
Danish

An embezzlement drama at a school

Not Selected. The other finalists were a revenge thriller namedDarklandand the memoirWord of Godabout a family with a domineering eccentric father.

Dominican Republic
never nominated (submitting since 1983)

WOODPECKERS
Jose Maria Cabral

106 minutes
Spanish

CalledCarpinterosin Spanish, this is about male prison inmates who invent a secret sign language to communicate with the women’s prison next door.

Egypt
never nominated (submitting since 1958)

SHEIKH JACKSON
Amr Salama

93 minutes
Arabic

This one, said to be quite a crowdpleaser, is about an Islamic cleric who loves Michael Jackson

Not Selected:
The controversial religious dramaThe Preacher一直很好再保险吗viewed

Estonia
1 nomination
(submitting since 1992)

NOVEMBER
Rainer Sarnet

115 minutes
Estonian

REVIEWED

As expected they went with the surreal black and white fairy tale like film which took Best Cinematgoraphy at Tribeca Film Festival.

Not Selected:
Other Estonian film this year was the father son dramedyA Man Who Looks Like Me

Finland
1 nom | 0 wins
(submitting since 1973)

TOM OF FINLAND
Dome Karukoski

115 minutes
Finnish and English

a biopic of the famous artist of gay erotica. There is a lot of English in this picture (Tom travels to America for a portion of the film) but probably not enough to disqualify it.

France
3 Honorarys | 37 noms | 9 wins (submitting since 1956)

BPM (BEATS PER MINUTE)
Robin Campillo

minutes
French

This Cannes sensation is a masterpiece of political drama and enormously moving and humane, too.

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